Embroidered Knitting Update

Here’s what I have so far — what do you think? I decided to use cotton embroidery floss rather than yarn because with the sweater knit in worsted weight yarn, it already feels a bit bulky. I didn’t want to add visual ‘weight’ to the upper body, any more than is already there! Working from my stash, the green is DMC #3 “cotton perle” — love the thick ply and sheen. I’m trying to use what materials I have on hand, so am committed to making my stash suffice. But wouldn’t some cornflower blue be a nice contrast here and there? The temptation could win me over …

Here’s a pic of the underside. I’m using a panel of interfacing for the backing.

The process is, start with a large piece of interfacing fabric that covers the entire back area. After you are done with the stitching, carefully cut away the ’empty’ interfacing. This part had me nervous, as I am more of an ‘eyeball it/wing it’ kind of person and was afraid that in my casual approach, would accidentally hack into the knitting. Safe — phew!

I’m going to continue with this simple design and colorway, and hope that my leaves improve with repetition, and that I love the sweater when it’s finished. Perhaps a mini version of the scroll and flowers on the sleeves’ edges, too?

I love it! I’d add both cornflower blue and a bit of yellow. Or maybe yellow alone. Did you make and wash a test swatch with embroidery to check for shrinkage? If the floss shrinks when you wash it, you could preshrink it before you embroider with it.